Be kind to yourself - stop, rest & reflect.
It’s coming to the end of the school year, and having two kids in school means lots of sports days, end of year reports, trips, school parties and so on - which means the calendar is filling. Working for myself it means I can attend all of these things but at a price - I have to squeeze in work at other times, like now, at 6am on a Friday. I am lucky I get to attend every school thing, I am fortunate I get to do the school run every day - seeing my kids run out happy and exhausted after a whole 6 hours learning and playing. But that luck doesn’t stop the feeling of overwhelm, because the world doesn’t stop when sports day happens. We still have to fit in everything we usually do AND the extra bits.
The cost of living, the war in Ukraine, the rail strikes, COVID - these are pretty huge things happening in the world right now that we can’t ignore and this can add to the emotional overwhelm.
So I guess this is your reminder to take it easy on yourself. Be kind to yourself, live with self compassion as much as possible. It’s easy to say such simple platitudes, but they have truth and sometimes we need that gentle reminder.
So, how do we actually BE kind to ourselves? And for free?!
Stop. Rest. Reflect.
How is this kind? Let me explain - when we know that a friend of family member is going through something tough, a hard overwhelming time, what do we do? We pop round for a cuppa and sit and chat. We let that friend have time to talk and get out everything they need to. So, do that for yourself!
At the start of every Saturday Sit Down newsletter I invite you to take this time, why? Because it’s self compassion! Now, there will be a lot of you who don’t think it’s worth it, you won’t take the time because it doesn’t really matter - but let me tell you, it does.
Lean into the thoughts you have, the nice and the painful - because when we get curious about those parts of us, we learn about ourselves. We become resilient and we expand our self knowledge - and as we know knowledge is power!
It’s powerful to know about ourselves deeply. Be gently curious about yourself with kindness. No judgement, just curiosity. Sit with yourself, find out how you really are.
Just like you would a friend.
Until next week lovely people!
L xx
